Chevron, Shell Swap Gas Assets

By

Ross Kelly

Updated Aug. 20, 2012 12:22 p.m. ET

SYDNEY—Chevron Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell PLC agreed Monday to swap stakes in two multibillion-dollar natural-gas projects in Australia, betting on the country's ability to feed Asia's growing energy demand just as competition from Africa and North America intensifies.

Chevron, the second-biggest U.S. oil company by market value after Exxon Mobil Corp., will transfer its 17.5% interest in the proposed US$30 billion-plus Browse export terminal in Western Australia state to Shell in exchange for the Anglo-Dutch company's...